RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The London Olympics were simultaneously splendid and silly. But now that they are just a drunken glint in some Harry Potter or Mary Poppins fan’s eye, we can look ahead to the 2016 Games in Rio and our very own… Olympic Rugby Team. However, this isn’t just your mama’s rugby team. It’s not your country’s rugby team. It’s not even Great Britain’s Rugby Team – for which we utter disdain as it’s an Olympic Catastrophe – read this.
Instead, this team will be your choice of players to make up an All Olympic Rugby 7s Team. Keep in mind, you need all the positions on the pitch covered. If you want to experiment and move Tomasi Cama to wing, so be it. But just be prepared to answer to the RWU critics. You can’t simply go to the HSBC World Series Home and pick from the year’s leading points scorers – they are mostly backs. You need some good ol’ fashioned thugs up front. We’ve sprinkled in a few of our favorites but by no means should anyone think this list is the Holy Grail of Lists. We know for certain that we’ll be subject to many expletives, coming in all sorts of languages and dialects in the rugby bars, chatrooms and think-tanks across the globe.
Your language skills better be strong, you’ll need to communicate your selections worldwide. Pick your 7 starters and 3 reserves. With that, we bid you good luck. You have 7 minutes.
Pick Your All-Olympic Rugby 7s Team
That said, while we’ve got a pretty good idea of our All Olympic Rugby 7s Team– which we’ll disclose next week – your selections may sway us. You can use the comment section below to defend your picks, garner support, subject yourself to further ridicule or get us and your peers to see things your way.
Oh, and one final thing… Who is your coach? Would it be a staple like Gordon Tietjens or would it be someone like Ben Gollings – who was the highest points scorer in 7s history?
We look forward to your picks!
